PALMA – Despite the travel restrictions designed to curb the Covid pandemic, Germans want to continue travelling. Last December saw a massive increase in arrivals of German private jets to the islands of Mallorca and Ibiza.
In December, the number of Covid-19 infections soared. As a result, several countries, including Germany and the United Kingdom, imposed travel restrictions to Spain. Despite quarantine obligations, including submitting negative PCR tests, Germans did not give up their trips to the Spanish islands. Mallorca has traditionally been a very popular destination among Germans.
Once seen as exclusive for the uber-rich or as a travelgoal, flying in private jets may become more usual due to the pandemic. While commercial flight numbers dramatically reduced as travel restrictions hit, private aviation became a viable alternative for many.
Private aviation continued to increase in the last month of the year at the airports in the Balearic Islands. With commercial flights considerably reduced, an alternative was to fly on private jets. Mallorca saw an increase of up to 90% (with 691 flights), and in Eivissa (Ibiza), the number of flights increased by 96% with a total of 413 landings and departures. From there, 80 flights operated to Mallorca. According to Diario de Mallorca, this is evidenced by data from Europair, a specialist broker in contracting and managing charter flights.
At the other end of the spectrum, commercial aviation to Mallorca airport last year dropped by 79%. 6.1 million passengers arrived on the island in 2020 compared to 29.7 million in 2019.
